Luderitz Diamond Rush 1907 and onwards

Zacharius Lewala

The Railroad Surveyor and the Observant
Labourer:In 1907 the German, August Stauch arrived in
Luderitz. His
motivation for coming to the new colony was that he suffered from asthma
and it was thought that the dryer climate of the desert may be more
suitable for his health. Stauch settled into his new way of life, and
job as Bahnmeister, apparently better than most. He listened with a
passionate interest to the tales about
Adolf Luderitz and the his
belief that there lay, hidden by the desert sands, diamonds. There were
those who scorned August's fascination with the subject for even the
geologists who had scoured the area had failed to find the elusive
stones. Stauch was not to be deterred and even managed to obtain from
Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft fur Südwest Afrika a prospecting license
Many of his native workers had been brought in from South Africa for
their previous experience of railroad workings and he asked them to look
for any unusually bright stones as they worked their way along the
rail-track. One such worker was Zacharius Lewala. He had previously
worked on the diamond mines of Kimberly, and it was after only two weeks
of hearing his boss's request that he was able to report that he had
found a pretty stone. Stauch scratched the glass of his watch with the
stone and it was cut deeply. He believed it to be a diamond, but knew
better than to make any announcement. He quietly resigned his position
with the railroad company and having gained some financial backing,
pegged his claim and began a systematic search of the area. He found
more 'pretty stones', and took these to the Government laboratory in
Swakopmund, where on 20 June 1908 they were confirmed as being diamonds
- a date that would bring dramatic changes to
Luderitz and the country.

August Stauch

Building the Luderitz Rail-Line

They came to the diamond-fields any way they could

The finding of gold may bring upon a rush, but
the news of diamonds laying ready to be picked up from the sands of the
desert caused the small town to descend into chaos. Applications for
prospecting licenses poured in from all over the country. The local
population 'closed shop'; succumbed to 'diamond fever' and poured into
the desert as fast as they could.

Stauch's Claim Board

Sifting for alluvial diamonds

Diamond working outside of Luderitz

The German Government took immediate interest in the
activities at Luderitz and dispatched the Secretary For The Colonies to
the town to investigate the situation and attempt to bring about a more
business like and control to the industry. The Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft
limited the issuing of licenses and a system of
diamond taxation was introduced. An amount of order was brought to the
industry, but the mining operations could still be considered
'wild-cat', inefficient and often wasteful. Further improvements were
needed.

The town enjoyed a boom time and a considerable amount of
development between 1908 and 1914. Note the sailing ship in the bay.

Sorting the gravel

Luderitz the diamond boom-town

Schutztruppe blow-up the Luderitz Rail-Line

The First World War in August 1914 brought
a cessation in diamond mining at the Kolmanskop and Area diggings.

Governor Dr T Sietz

Ernest Oppenheimer

The surrender of the German colony by Governor Dr.
Theodore Sietz on 9 July 1915 to General Botha and the army of the Union
of South Africa brought a somewhat revival in the diamond mining in the
area. The issuing of licenses to mine was limited to nine companies. And
it was during this period that a man who was already well qualified and
involved in the mining industry passed through the town and made an interesting
observation while at the diggings. He noted the inefficiencies of the
small companies that worked the claims. The visitor returned to South
Africa

where, by 1917 he had risen to become the
chairman of the Anglo-American Corporation of South Africa. The company
was involved in gold mining. But he hadn't forgotten things that he had
seen while visiting the diamond fields outside of
Luderitz. In 1919 he
decided to formulate a plan that

would revolutionize the diamond industry as a whole, and met
with the representatives of the larger German companies that had mining
operations in the LuderitzLuderitz area and negotiated their purchase. In
February 1920 he formed the company Consolidated Diamond Mines' (CDM).
His name was Ernest Oppenheimer.